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Radio Daze: Mysteries of The Russian Woodpecker
Over the course of the film, Alexandrovich develops the theory that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was intentionally set off to cover up the non-functionality of the supposedly seven-billion-ruble Pecker.
"Traditional Values" Rhetoric and Efforts for Greater Domestic Violence Protections in Russia: Why Legislative Action May Not Be Enough
Pervasive domestic violence remains an ongoing human rights concern in Russia, with cases underreported and a pronounced lack of recourse and governmental support services. Efforts to address this issue have...
"Radiant Futures" conference brings Soviet science fiction and fantasy out of the periphery
On April 8, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia hosted a conference entitled “Radiant Futures: Russian Fantasy and Science Fiction.” The conference was convened by...
Insurgents Built In: How Wars Radicalized the Most Integrated Muslims in the Russian Empire
With observers consistently pointing to the social isolation and lack of opportunity Muslim youth often confront, why are European societies reluctant to listen to Muslim citizens who — speaking a...
On Avant-Garde Post: Radical Poetics After the Soviet Union
The new Russian avant-garde poetic cohort's blend of a socialist past with global egalitarian ideas challenges both the discourses of the Russian authorities and the major opposition .
Anindita Banerjee speaks on Aelita, Queen of Mars in Radiant Futures keynote speech
On April 8, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia hosted a conference entitled “Radiant Futures: Russian Fantasy and Science Fiction.” After the first panel, NYU...
Ukrainian Christmas traditions in Kazakhstan and Canada: Folklore, Folklorism, and Preserving Heritage
Folklore adapts to lived circumstances and living folk traditions are different from those of the past precisely because they are alive and suit their circumstances.
Breaking Taboos by Injecting the Personal: Anna Starobinets and the Tradition of Solzhenitsyn
In Russian culture, the writer often acts as a missionary, charting new paths in public discourse by broaching previously unmentionable topics. In 2017, Russian fiction writer Anna Starobinets (pictured above)...
The Day of Family, Love and Fidelity: "Traditional Values" and Church-State Relations in Russia
“You have gay parades, and we have the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity."
The Buryat-Mongolian Buddhist Tradition: Legacy, Resilience, and Renaissance
Following the collapse of the Soviet regime, Buddhism in Buryatia entered a new era characterized by efforts to revive the long-repressed tradition.
Ukrainian Russophonia: Beyond the "Russian World" Paradigm
As the famous Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov pointed out in a June article for "The New Statesman," the atrocities of recent months have made it quite likely that Russian will...
Untangling Green Energy Contradictions in Central Asia
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are at the forefront of regional efforts in renewable energy investment, while also being the largest oil and gas-producing nations of Central Asia.
The Untold Story of “Radical Relief” to Soviet Russia
One hundred years ago, the American Relief Administration, unofficially presided over by Herbert Hoover, concluded its famine relief campaign in Soviet Russia. From 1921 to 1923, the US sent more...
Russia's War Against Ukraine and the Paradigm of Empire in Historiography
After the fall of communism in Europe, a new generation of historians sought to overcome the East-West wall inside their own discipline. A history of East-West antagonisms was to be...
The Great Chernobyl Acceleration
One researcher in search of definitive answers to long-term health effects from Chernobyl has a radical idea about how to accelerate cleanup of the accident’s contamination: Buy the radioactive berries...
Unpacking Emotions in Post-Soviet Russia: The Role of Shame and Pride in Socioeconomic Transformation
The stories of shuttle traders or chelnoki offer a vibrant, intimate glimpse into the personal and societal upheavals of the early post-Soviet 1990s.
The Path to "Healthy Conservatism”: Values-Based Regime Legitimation in Putin’s Russia
As the Kremlin's definition of conservatism evolved, it moved from privileging stability, to emphasizing control, to, finally, understanding conservatism as traditionalism. These shifts were both gradual and reactive, responding to...
Why the international community shouldn’t ignore the Crimean Tatars
Early in 2014 the Russian annexation of Crimea caused international uproar. Subsequently, things went quiet. Today, the media are paying attention again, as they reveal how local Russian authorities are...
Excerpt from "Border Conditions: Russian-Speaking Latvians between World Orders," Part III
Orbita’s activities are a concerted effort to deploy Russian language culture on the Latvian scene without reasserting the language of the occupier or reconstructing the official cultural geography of the Soviet era.
Prosperity or War? "Peace" as a Political Tool in Today's Hungary
Since the outbreak of the war, the Hungarian government has consistently objected to providing military aid to Ukraine to help the country defend itself from its Eastern aggressor. Hungary has...